The Degenerate Diary- Opening Night NBA DFS

After four very long months, it is finally Opening Night! I feel like I’m twelve years old again waiting for presents tomorrow from Santa. Alas, today begins a new quest in taking down that ever-elusive 20-max low stake GPP.

A little about me, my name is Pawel and I was born and raised in Chicago. I moved to Florida for grad school and haven’t left paradise. I am an accountant by day and DFS fiend by night. I only play NFL and NBA DFS with NBA being my main game. I am strictly a tournament player usually max entering the $3 or $4 20-max GPP on Fanduel or Draftkings.

Here are my opening night tournament thoughts.

(DK/FD)

Core Guys

My first step in lineup building process is finding who will be my core that will be in most lineups. I try to find 4 guys that I can play in every lineup.

Kyrie Iving PG (8300/8200) This is a no brainer, he is coming back home to Cleveland as the main scorer in Boston. Irving showed some great playmaking in the preseason with a double double in the third quarter last week versus the Hornets. I will have him in almost all of my lineups.

Dwayne Wade SG (5200/6000) This is a stronger play on DK, but I do like him over Klay on FD. Wade also has looked very good in preseason. He’s coming into this season healthy after coasting through last season. This play also hinges on James’s status, although I could see him still as a core play even if James does play.

Trevor Ariza SF (4500/5600) Ariza also has a great shot at 7x. He is a solid source of threes, rebounds, and steals (2.4/5.7/1.8 2016 averages). This is a high scoring matchup and the addition of Paul should only get him more open looks from three and easy buckets off cuts.

Kevin Love PF (7800/7000) I am playing Love regardless of James’s status. He’s going to be starting at center versus a team that does not rebound the ball well. We could see a vintage 20 point 20 rebound game from him.

Stephen Curry PG (8800/9700) I like Curry the most out of all the higher priced studs. He’s priced cheaper than Durant and James with the same 60 point upside. The Rockets do not play much defense. This game has a projected score of 230.5 and Curry will see plenty of shots.

James Harden SG (10000/11000) This is a pretty big discount from Harden’s 12000-13000 range last year. Harden will be on auto play until his price corrects.

High Upside Plays

Derrick Rose PG (5000/5500) Again, if James sits Rose is in great spot to hit 7x. Kyrie isn’t known to be the best defender and he looked healthy in the preseason. This price is too low to pass up with the expected bump in usage.

Jaylen Brown SG (3700/3700) Jaylen will be most likely the starting SG for the Celtics opening night. He will be guarded by Wade’s “defense” and should be able to find himself with a few easy layups. He’s a risky play but can do a little bit of everything at less than 4k is not bad on a 2 game slate.

Ryan Anderson PF (4100/4700) The motto for Ryno last season was to play him in road games. He shot 46% from three on the road as opposed to 33% at home. He even attempted one more shot from 3 per game in away games as well. He could get hot, and like Ariza, could see a lot of open 3 opportunities.

Tristan Thompson C (3900/5200) I don’t think the demotion hurts Tristan that much. He should still get over 20 minutes a game. With Baynes out tomorrow, Tristan should be able to grab boards at will and has a realistic shot over hitting 7x.

Jae Crowder PF (4200/4500) This is definitely a better Fanduel pick but playable on both sites. From what I have read he is going to start and he has multi category upside. He averaged 27 fppg last season and has shown 40 plus upside. Crowder can hit over 30 points easily in this game, especially if James is out.

No Way Jose

Marcus Morris PF (4000/4900) Marcus should be a solid part of this teams rotation and could even start at some point. He missed most of the preseason and isn’t ready for big minutes yet

Terry Rozier SG (3800/3100) Terry played well this preseason and looks to have carved out a role on this team. I don’t think he will get to see many minutes in this game with the Kyrie narrative. I don’t see him getting more than 12-14 minutes.

Best of luck to everyone tonight, hopefully I have helped you take down that GPP tonight!